Localization means developing strong cooperative relationships with the farmers in our area, as well as developing new practices of sustainable permaculture, agroforestry and forest gardening. Farming and forestry are seen as mutually exclusive in the modern world, but Farming the Woodsdemonstrates how forest farms can be extremely productive beyond our delineated garden spaces and plowed fields.

The local bioregion offers an abundance of native fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, vegetables, mushrooms, leaves, flowers, shoots, roots, herbs, barks, sap and wild rice, plus other wild foods and medicinal plants that contribute to our healing and well-being. Learning First Nations knowledge as related to nature’s gifts, and foraging the local foodshed or cultivating and caring for a diversity of plant communities can enhance both human and ecosystem health. In co-creation with forest ecology and sustainably-managed woodlots, forest agriculture can also be a form of much-needed rewilding.

Restoring the heirloom or foundational varieties and well-adapted native plants that are part of a region’s biodiversity (plus integrating new crops) will stabilize the soil, provide food and shelter for native wild animals, and offer incredible beauty. Farming the Woods is an essential guide for farmers and gardeners who have access to woodland spaces and are interested in “filling the forests with food” by cultivating specialty crops, and harvesting and marketing these wonderful, healthy (and delicious!) wild foods.